Blessed In Every Way And Yet Disobedient And Rebellious

I. EXORDIUM:

Are you blessed in every way?

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To show that our blessings needed to be brought before the King of kings for our protection from worldliness.

IV. TEXT:

Nehemiah 9:25-26 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings.

“But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.

V. THESIS:

Our blessings needed to be brought before the King of kings for our protection from worldliness.

VI. TITLE:

Blessed in every way and yet disobedient and rebellious

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Author: uncertain. Autobiography of Nehemiah

B. Date written: 445 B.C. to 430 B.C.

C. Purpose: To document the political restoration of Judah, under Nehemiah's leadership

D. To whom written: Restored remnant in Jerusalem and future generations

E. Main themes:

Rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem

Rehearsal of certain divine laws

Restoration of ancient ordinances

F. Keyword: wall

G. Key verses:

Nehemiah 6:3 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

so I replied by sending this message to them: “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?”

Nehemiah 6:15-16 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

So on October 2 the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun.

When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God.

VIII. MAIN BODY:

A. Blessed in every way

"Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings."

1. Blessings enumerated:

a. Captured fortified cities and fertile land

b. Took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things and wells already dug

c. Vineyards

d. Olive groves

e. Abundant fruit trees

f. Ate to the full

g. Enjoyed all GOD's blessings

2. Warnings against worldly fulness

Deuteronomy 32:15 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

“But Israel soon became fat and unruly; the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed! Then they abandoned the God who had made them; they made light of the Rock of their salvation.

Matthew 6:25 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?

Revelation 3:17 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

3. Perils of prosperity:

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

“The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build.

The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land,

be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

Proverbs 30:9 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

a. Prosperity of the righteous:

Psalms 1:3 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

Psalms 37:4 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Psalms 37:4 (Amplified Bible)

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

B. They were disobedient and rebellious

"But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies."

1. Worldly riches will try to replace GOD in your life, so avoid worldly riches. Bring the worldly riches to the One who can handle the splendor and glory of it, bring the worldly riches to the LORD JESUS CHRIST, as Head of the Church, you can bring it to His Body -- the Church. (the storehouse)